Training at Sevii
by clover bookcat
Summary: This fic covers what the manga missed-Gold and Crystal's training at Brinca's before the Emerald arc. Just what did they go through? Spoilers for Emerald and FR/LG, MangaQuestShipping and other pairings later on.
1. Statues

**A/N: Yes, that's right. ****I have finally written up the first chapter of my first ever multi chapter fic, Training at Sevii! ^^ I apologize for the delay in starting this up, I understand I first brought up the idea two months ago and began working on it a month and a half ago. -.- Main pairing is Mangaquestshipping, obviously. XD Time period is post FR/LG, before Emerald. Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Is my name Kusaka or Tajiri? No. So that must mean I don't own Pokemon or Pokespecial. Aw…*Is sad***

**Silver's POV**

A flash of light. That was all it took for everything to change.

I felt the petrification take hold as the light started to dim. First my feet, then my legs hardened as it spread upwards. I tried to stand but only managed to step forward before the petrification spread to my chest and arms. My breath caught, then stopped altogether as my neck, and finally my face, turned to stone.

I couldn't move now. I could still see, since my eyes were open, but at the moment I could only gaze into the light, the ability to blink now lost to me.

As the light faded away, I mentally cursed myself for letting my guard down. I had thought the battle was over, that we were safe. Of course I had been wrong. This berating only increased when the light finally faded enough for me to see that the others had also been petrified, like me, including my sister. I swore to myself that whatever (or whoever) was the cause of this, they would pay in blood.

In front of me, I could see the Team Rocket member, Storc, staring at us. Then she started to laugh, and said, "Well, well. Although in the end, Deoxys managed to escape, the outcome is still equally gratifying." Wrenching herself free from the ice that was attempting to bind her, she ran off, out of my line of sight.

Moments later, I heard footsteps, and Professor Oak and two other women appeared. One of them, a women with purple hair and glasses, looked at us, shocked, and said, "I can't believe this."

The Professor also looked horrified and seemed to struggle with himself for a few seconds, then turned to the old woman beside him and said, "Brinca, hide the truth from Blue's parents. I'll contact Bill."

The woman nodded, then headed off out of my sight once more while the Professor stooped down and stood back up, Red's Pokegear in his hand. Hastily dialing a number, he put it to his ear, and after another moment he began to talk into the receiver. "Hello? Bill? Yes, it's me. Yes…Yes, things are alright now. Red managed to connect to Deoxys, and it's free and has returned to the wild. Team Rocket's airship has also landed safety and there are no casualties." He paused for a while, then said, "And that's all well and good, but…" He glanced at me, then said, "The Dex Holders…The kids responsible for Vermillion's safety, were showered in a mysterious light and were turned to stone." Letting out a shaky breath, he listened to what I assumed was Bill on the other end of the line, then continued, "No, I don't know how it happened. One minute, they were fine, and the next there was a flash of light and then they were statues. No. Yes…No, I'm not sure. Yes…Yes, of course. I plan to. And there will need to be research…But will you help us? …Thank you. Yes. Goodbye." He lowered his hand, sighed, and then turned to the purple haired woman.

"Well, Bill knows now, and he agreed to help us research the cause and cure for this…" He looked back at me again, then said, "…Situation. Blue's parents won't be told of this until they are safe and have recovered enough that they can take the shock. Those poor people…" He shook his head.

The purple haired woman looked at me, then at the Professor. "So that's what you'll be doing from now on? Researching a cure for petrification?"

Oak nodded, looking like he was hundreds of years old instead of fifty, and I felt a stab of guilt that he should be worried about us so much. "Of course, I'll alert Yellow's uncle as well. And what will you do now, Lorelei? Head back to Kanto?"

The woman named Lorelei shook her head. "I'll stay here, to help with the repairs on the islands. Team Rocket won't be forgotten for a while yet." She spat the last sentence out contemptuously and pushed her glasses higher up on her nose. "Something tells me that that other woman — was Storc her name? – will also be back. She freed herself from my ice bonds, so she's a strong opponent."

Oak sighed again. "Come then, Lorelei. It seems we'll need to head back to Five Island, at any rate. I'll need to meet up with Bill, and I think that most of the citizens of Sevii will be there. You'll need to reassure them."

The two of them walked off to the edge of my sight, Oak looking back now and then as he did.

This left me, in my petrified state, quite alone. Not that I didn't like it – I needed the time to think and organize my thoughts.

The one thing that I was fairly sure was that my father (It still felt strange to call the man by that name) was safe. Ursaring could be trusted to do its job, and strong enough to carry it out to all ends.

I thought about the others — the other Dex Holders, and my sister. Were they conscious as well? Could they see things as I could? Were they also waiting impatiently for Oak's return?

As what felt like hours passed, my thoughts switched to other, less important things. I considered Gold and Crystal, wherever they might be. We hadn't really been in contact with each for the past few years – Crystal had been working with the various Professors throughout the regions and Gold had been…Well, busy doing whatever idiotic things he was doing. Still, I wondered how they'd react to the news that all their Seniors, as well as I, had been turned into statues. Crystal would probably help the Professor in research…And Gold would no doubt laugh. Of course he would — he'd no doubt find it hilarious that I was now something like a garden gnome.

If I could have laughed, I would have. Oh, how pathetic I was at humor…Or was it irony, in this case?

My thoughts changed again. Now I saw the message I had gotten from _her_ recently…How she wanted to know how I was doing, and that she would be departing for a new region soon. I hadn't answered her yet, and now I wouldn't be able to for a while, if at all. I wondered how she would feel once she received the news…Or would she, since no one other than Blue knew about our relationship? I was ninety-five percent positive that I had been right in keeping it secret (especially from Gold) too. But the five percent of me that was uncertain wished I could have left someone behind to alert her.

Then, from behind me, I heard footsteps. Oak soon appeared, along with several Machop who were following behind him, and I realized that we were finally about to be moved. I wished I could have winced – those Machop seemed a little too violent for this kind of work.

Oak turned to the largest Machop – who I assumed was the leader – and began giving directions. Ah. Things were getting started at last.

**Crystal's POV**

I carefully set down the pile of books I had been carrying on my desk and stepped back, taking in the appearance of the room. It was just like I had arranged it – neat and organized, my Pokeballs empty on my desk since my Pokemon were playing outside – yet even though I had arranged it and rearranged it so many times, it still seemed empty. I sighed. It wasn't like I didn't know why; the Professor wasn't there, and hadn't been for days.

"Mu?"

Smoopeon looked up from beside me, seeming worried at my expression. I smiled reassuringly down at her.

"I'm okay, Smoopeon. Just…A little lonely, maybe."

Shaking my head, I turned to sit down at my desk and access my laptop, signing in to my email account. I felt relieved to see that I had a new one, labeled, "News from Sevii" from the Professor. Ever since he'd sent me the message explaining what had happened before I came to Pallet, with Team Rocket, and the other Dex Holders (as well as Silver, much to my surprise), and saying that he wanted me to stay at the lab and take care of it while he was gone, I hadn't had contact with him until now.

Clicking on the email, I leaned closer to the screen to read it. It said:

_Dear Crystal,_

_First of all, allow me to thank you for taking care of the lab in my stead. I know it must have taken a while to clean the mess I left there (seeing as Daisy mentioned frequently)._

_Secondly, I must confess something to you. I remember that in my previous email I explained what happened several weeks ago with my kidnapping to Sevii. I'm afraid that, when I did, I kept something from you._

_Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, and Silver have been petrified and turned to stone._

_Please, hear me out and don't immediately panic, since I am sure you will after reading this. If I am honest, my reason for keeping this from you was not because I thought you couldn't handle this information, but because I had confidence in my abilities to discover a cure to reverse the process. Unfortunately, I was wrong._

_Obviously, finding a cure is the most important thing for us right now. Bill and I are continuing to work without sleep, researching what we can. Of course, this is something that, I am fairly sure, has never happened in recorded human history, so we don't have much to go by. However, I do have some good news – there is a woman here on Sevii, called Brinca and familiar with your Seniors, who says she has a possible lead on the cure. She hasn't given me any details, but she has requested me to recommend any other Pokedex Holders to her. Due to the current circumstances, you and Gold are the only ones available. I will try to get in contact with the Hoenn Dex Holders as well, but I can't give an exact date as of yet._

_As Brinca is well known on this island for training Pokemon Trainers, I assume she wishes to train you and Gold in the arts of…Well…You'll see when you get here._

_Finally, Crystal, please, take care of yourself. I know that this is going to be hard – for everyone involved – but do your best. And make sure to keep Gold in line; if he and Brinca fight, I'm terrified at what the end result will be._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Samuel Oak_

When I finished reading the words on the screen, I sat still in my chair, frozen, almost as if I was the one who was petrified and not my friends. Slowly, I clicked out of the email and closed my laptop. I could always type up a reply later.

Suddenly, I jumped up, my seat toppling over and crashing into a stack of papers behind me. I heard Smoopeon let out a startled cry, but I didn't stop. I didn't want to think about anything. Everything, everything…It was happening too fast. This sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen anymore… I kept running, speeding up once I'd cleared the lawn and the last of the houses, not caring where I ended up, just as long as I kept running, because as long as I ran I wouldn't have to think about anything…

Eventually, a dull pain in my feet slowed me down, eventually making me stop altogether, breathless. I noticed that I had, without realizing it, ran out of Pallet and all the way into Viridian Forest, from what I remembered the few times I'd been here. I looked up, squinting at the sunlight that poked through the trees. At least here, no one could hear me…

"Woof." I spun around, eyes wide. Seeing the enormous mass of orange fur, I relaxed. "Only you, Arckee, huh? Then again, I guess you're the only one fast enough to catch up to me…" My throat caught, and I turned back to around, crouching down and hugging my knees to my chest. "You can…go back to the lab. I'll join you in a bit. "

Instead of hearing the breeze that always followed Arckee when he ran, I felt him nudge me from behind. When I didn't answer, he walked around in front of me and lay down, wrapping his enormous tail around me. Slowly, I reached forward and buried my face into his fur, Arckee curling even further around me. My sobs were muffled, but they still seemed loud and eerie in the shade of the forest.

**Gold's POV**

Waiting was not something I liked to do. Especially if it was for some old lady who randomly called, demanding that I fly across two regions to meet her at her house on an island in the middle of nowhere. The tall concrete stairs and long gate leading up to the house didn't help the trip that much, either. I'd barely managed to make it up to the house by riding on Explotaro's back.

The only reason I'd agreed to meet said lady was because the Prof. had also left a message on my Pokegear, agreeing with what she said and leaving a detailed explanation (As expected of the old man, although the message in and of itself wasn't a cheery one).

I tapped my foot, forced it still, then started tapping it impatiently again. I wasn't so stupid as to think that I was normally a patient guy – Crys made sure of that – but making me wait outside of a person's house on the stairs for two hours was killing what little patience I_ did_ have.

Deciding that I'd try one last time to get the hag to open the door, I yelled, "HEY!! LADY!! If you don't open this door, I'll bust it open!"

Silence.

I held back a sigh, then took out Aitaro's Pokeball. Crys always said that I should be more serious – now was as good a time to start as any. Tossing the Pokeball into the air, I called out, "Focus Punch!"

Aitaro leaped out of his Pokeball, the fist on the end of his tail glowing. Before he could throw himself at the door, though, it was thrown open, an old lady standing in the doorway. Said lady also looked like she was very close to punching some unfortunate Pokemon in the face, and it showed in her voice as she yelled at me.

"Call back your Pokemon, boy! I'd rather not have my house torn apart!"

I did like she asked, although Aitaro looked more than a little disappointed that he hadn't gotten to fight something as he looked out of his Pokeball.

Seeming satisfied that I wasn't going to break anything, the old lady turned to me and looked me up and down.

"So, you're the first of the younger trainers, eh? Certainly a bit disappointing…"

I glared at her. "Yeah, well, you're not too good looking yourself, lady."

She sniffed. "My name is Brinca, youngster. You'd do well to remember it."

"And my name's Gold. Remember my name, and I'll remember yours."

Brinca looked at me, then grinned. "Done. Welcome to my home, Gold." She turned around, calling over her shoulder, "Come on in. I have something to show you."

Stepping through the door, I looked around. It was a fairly large room, a wooden table standing in the middle and a sofa in the corner. There were two other doors on both sides, the door leading back to the gate behind me.

While I was taking in the room, Brinca had moved to the door on my right and opened it, calling out, "One of them's here, come on out!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Who are you talking to?"

Brinca turned around, grinning. "Well, I think you'll recognize them, or at least a few of them."

Even while she talked to me, someone was walking through the opened door, and then stood in front of me.

"It's been a while, Gold…"

**A/N: Yes, I know what you're thinking. Clover! Why did you make the first chapter COMPLETE REVIEW!? WHERE IS THE MANGAQUESTSHIPPING!? One, because I needed to set up the plot. And the Mangaquest will get in there eventually, but not immediately. This fic will be fairly slow in the beginning, from what I've thought up so far.**

**Anyway. To add stuff that I didn't mention before (Or don't think I did), other shippings WILL be in this fic. I can't say what most of them are (Since that would spoil future chapters) but the one I can say without really giving anything away is Teashipping. Too cute not to put in. 33 Ah yes, and whoever can guess what shipping I DID put in this chapter gets a cyber cookie~That and the character at the end. ;D**

**The reason I put Arckee in is because I do so love that dog. XD But I tend to make Crys cry a lot in my fics, don't I? -.-' And Brinca's house wasn't shown, I don't think. Red and Green only trained in the hall in front of the house, but the house itself was never shown, only mentioned. If this isn't right, feel free to correct me.**

**Also, I don't think this will be a major issue as of yet, but some people may know that I intend to start other multi chapter fics. 3 in total, to be exact. The problem with this is that I've never written several stories at once before. Of course, I don't want to abandon my ideas and focus on only one fic for a while, because I'm afraid that I'll abandon the other fics entirely. So what I've decided to do is write Training at Sevii as my main fic (as in, I'll update this fic most often), write maybe 3 chapters or so, then move on to 'Spirit', write 2 chapters for that, go on to Pokespe Daycare and write 1 chapter for that, then move back to TaS and write another 3 chapters. Basically, I'll repeat this until I finish each story. Not that that'll be anytime soon. .**

**Well, the usual—please tell me what you think! Constructive critism is always and much appreciated! ^^**


	2. Meetings and Introductions

**A/N: Hallo everyone~welcome to chapter two of Training at Sevii. ^^ Thank you to all those who reviewed the last chapter and offered their opinions—speaking of which, I have some cyber cookies to give out! Let's see…Snoaz receives two cookies for correctly guessing the shipping and guessing the character…Sunnybeam gets one for correctly guessing the shipping…And aqua-dragon also receives two cookies for correctly guessing both. *Takes out a cookie plate and hands out cookies to each person* Congrats, guys. ^^ And I apologize for the delay, but life loves to get in the way of any hobbies I have. -.- Even I'm shocked that it took me over a month…Don't be surprised if this happens even more often in future, unfortunately, as school has started. Now, here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Pokespecial. Wish I did, but I don't.**

**Gold's POV**

"_It's been a while, Gold…"_

I stared at the blue haired guy in front of me, his arms crossed and overall looking a lot like a certain spiky haired senior I knew.

"Falkner? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, no reason," he said, smiling, "other than I heard about the circumstances leading up to your…situation."

I gaped at him. "How did you-"

"I'll explain later. For now, there are others you should meet." Turning back to the door, he yelled, "It's Gold, guys!"

Immediately, a pink pig-tailed head popped around the edge of the doorway.

"Aw, Gold? I was hoping to meet that Crystal girl…I heard she's nice, unlike the perv."

Another familiar voice. "No one asked for your opinion, Pink Haired Gal."

She scowled at me, stomping over to stand next to Falkner. "See? We haven't seen each other in who knows how many years, and see what he says to me?" She turned back to face the door. "I told you so, Jasmine."

A second gal stepped away from the door, eyes cast down. "Um, hello, Gold…I know it's been a while, and you probably won't remember me, but—"

I grinned at her. "Jasmine, Olivine City's Gym Leader. As lovely looking as ever."

Whitney snorted. "Oh, go figure you'd hit on her the minute she walks through the door."

"Listen, you—"

"Calm down, both of you," Falkner said, cutting me off. "You'd do better to be polite to our other companions."

I glanced at him, curious. "What'd you do, take all the Johto Leaders and cram 'em in an old lady's house?"

"Oh, no, the three of us are the only ones who came from Johto. Let's see…Bugsy said he wanted to attend a special, summer time only Bug Catching Contest…Morty called me to say that Eusine's dragging him along on another quest somewhere…Chuck mentioned something about helping to build a new Safari Zone near Cianwood…And Clarice is required to go to the League to represent the Gym Leaders, seeing as the rest of us are clearly busy." Whitney rolled of, ticking the names off of her fingers one by one.

"I didn't mean that literally, you know. And if that's true, then who else would agree to come to this corner of the world?" I asked, sarcastically.

"I would, for one," a man's voice said, "as would Erica here. Nice to meet you."

I turned around to see a tall guy with brown spiky hair appear from the second door, a lady in a green kimono beside him. The guy was grinning. "I remember you from the cross regional League three years ago. Gold and the video transmission, right? I'm Brock, Pewter's Gym Leader from Kanto."

The kimono gal bowed formerly. "It is nice to meet you. I am Erica, Gym Leader of Celadon City. I also remember you from the video transmission."

I shrugged. "Ah, you guys are so formal. Let it loose a little." Then I grinned. "And for the record, I had to transmit that video to save the world under stressful conditions. So sorry if I don't really recall anything of that time."

Erica giggled. "That clip wasn't exactly one you forget easily."

"Training again?" Falkner asked Brock, who nodded. "You can never have too much of a good work out."

"The man speaks the truth," Whitney said sagely, bouncing back on her heels. After a second, she looked around. "Say, where's Misty?"

Erica rolled her eyes. "Gone swimming again. I know she said she'd be back soon, but you know how she is…She probably won't be back for the rest of the day. I _told_ her somebody might be arriving today…"

I raised an eyebrow at this. "Woah, lady, how did you guys know I was coming anyway? It's already weird enough that all of you're here…"

"Brinca put out a message to us that she'd sent for you and your friend." Jasmine said from her spot in the doorway. "We can contact each other fairly quickly, but when it comes to travel…" She shook her head, shuddering a bit. "I know my Steelix wouldn't like to cross all that water between the islands."

"Or my Onix." Brock added, "Every type has a weakness. So that's why we decided to get back to Two Island in time to meet up with you."

"Why?"

"Because we are low on time, that's why," Brinca said, walking over to the couch and sitting down. "Let's get down to business, boy. I have called you an your Crystal friend here, as well as gathered six of the Gym Leaders who were willing to assist us, in the matter of your now petrified seniors."

As she spoke, there were a variety of reactions around the group. Falkner and Whitney both looked solemn; Jasmine stared stolidly at her feet; Brock and Erica both glanced at each, then at me. I looked away, my answer to Brinca coming out harsher than I meant it to. "What about them?"

Brinca eyed me from her position on the couch. "Thanks to the efforts of Professor Oak and that cheeky country boy…We may have found a cure."

My eyes snapped back to her. "What?"

"Like I said – we may have found a cure. _May_. We do not have many sources to go on this – in fact, I'd like to say a major section of the data we have at the moment is based on speculation. However, if it is true-" Here she paused, turning to each of us in turn, "If it is true, it is the best chance we have of reversing the petrification."

"You never mentioned this before," Falkner said sharply, "you only told us about the petrification and what we had to do."

Brinca snorted. "Of course I wouldn't tell _you_. _You're_ not the one who has to go through training in this plan."

I blinked. "Wait…Training? What're you talkin' about, Brinca?"

The elder woman looked at me, then sighed. "I would have liked to wait until after the girl got here, but I suppose we don't have a choice. Allow me to explain…"

**Crystal's POV**

I hated, _hated_ being late. It messed up schedules, it was proof a person was disorganized, it only brought trouble…

…And I was late on the one event that might determine whether my friends lived as statues for the rest of their lives. Of _course_.

When I checked my email again after I got back to the lab, I realized that the Professor had sent me a digital ticket for the S.S. Aqua; I also noticed the ticket had expired a week ago. Deciding to save my lecture for the Professor until we were face to face, I'd hurriedly packed and left a message for Mom (if she even came back while I was gone), then released Tupeon from her Pokeball. We were out of Pallet within the hour.

In the end, though, I'd underestimated the distance between Kanto and Sevii. It was far enough to require a ship for a reason, after all, and I had to give Tupeon several Oran Berries before we arrived at One Island hours later. When I asked around, it turned out the home of the Brinca woman the Professor had mentioned was on another island, setting us back even further.

"From now on," I said to Tupeon as we flew across water toward Two Island, "I'm doing proper research on an area before I travel. That and asking the Professor to check dates properly before making any travel arrangements."

Tupeon squawked in response.

"It's kind of strange, though," I continued, adjusting the straps on my shoulders slightly, "I know the Professor can be a little messy, but he's never confused important dates before…And then there's the abruptness of that email. It felt like he wrote it in a pretty big hurry…Do you think that-"

Suddenly, I heard a distant roar somewhere behind me, just as I heard someone yell, "Look ou-!" Before something hard and square slammed into me, the force of it ripping me out of Tupeon's claws and into the sea. Bubbles floated around me, flooding my vision and burning my eyes. Water filled my nose and mouth, and I could taste the saltiness of it. Just as I wondered whether I would suffocate to death, I felt something slippery brush against my fingers. Instinctively, I grabbed onto it, feeling myself pulled forcefully upward, breaking the surface of the water seconds later.

"Oh dear Ho-Oh, are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't notice you fast enough…"

I looked up, still coughing up water, to see a girl with short red hair riding side saddle on a Starmie. As I blinked the last of the water out of my eyes, I also saw that the material I had hung onto was the fin of a Goldeen, who drew up next to the Pokemon. Reaching over, the girl helped me into a more comfortable position by putting my hands on both sides of the Goldeen, then looked over at me with bright, sparkling blue eyes. "I'm really, really sorry…It's just, I wasn't expecting anyone to be in the area, so I was having Starmie travel at full speed-"

"No, it's okay. I was the one who should have been paying attention," I said, my throat still feeling raw from coughing, and looked up. "Tupeon!"

Immediately, my white winged friend flew down from where she'd been circling above us during our conversation and hooked onto my (now wet) pack straps, flapping until I was hovering at equal height with the girl. She smiled up at Tupeon.

"That looks like a strong Xatu."

"She is," I agreed.

"But are you sure you wouldn't like a ride?" she said, gesturing at her Goldeen. "It's the least I can do for an apology."

"No, really, it's fine. Tupeon is more comfortable in the air, and it'll help to dry me off anyway," I said, taking one of my pigtails and squeezing it in a vain attempt to force some of the water out. "But if you don't mind me asking, why were you swimming all the way out here? It didn't seem like most of the residents make a hobby of it, with the ferry and all…"

"They don't. That's _my_ particular area of expertise," the girl said, a sly smile on her face, "and I just find it quicker to swim from One to Two Island than taking the ferry."

"You're headed to Two Island?" I asked, surprised, "That's where I'm going."

"Really?" The girl looked thoughtful, tapping her chin lightly with a finger. "That reminds me…Erica did say…Hey, your name is Crystal, isn't it?"

I blinked. "How did you know?"

The red headed girl grinned. "Because I was told about your arrival by a friend of mine, and we've met before, although you may not remember. Let me reintroduce myself. I'm Misty, Gym Leader of Cerulean City."

I stared at her. "Misty? From the Mask of Ice Battle?"

"The one and only."

Okay. This was…An odd turn of events. I didn't remember much of the battle against Pryce, mainly because things had happened so fast and so much was going on. I did faintly remember, when Suicune had picked me to fight alongside him, that the girl who had been lying on the ground and had been his original partner was a girl with red hair, and later someone had told me her name was Misty. I already knew her position by name, and I'd felt honored that Suicune had chosen me after such a strong trainer. I just hadn't managed to match the name to the face.

What I did manage was to say, "Oh. Now I remember." And continue to stare at her.

Misty smiled. "Do you mind if we travel together? We're both heading to the same place, and I'd rather not have any more collisions, so…"

I shook myself out of my stupor. "Sure. That'd be great."

Now Misty grinned even more. "Last one to Two Island is a rotten Execute!" A millisecond later, Misty, her Starmie, and her Goldeen were off.

I resisted the urge to heave a sigh. Somehow, it felt like I was with Gold again. Then I smiled. Maybe that wasn't so bad.

"Come on, Tupeon, we can't lose! Full speed!"

We were off.

**Ten Minutes Later**

"Um, Misty, are you sure this is okay?"

Misty looked over her shoulder at me. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just…You did say you and some other people were staying here, right?"

"Yeah."

"So…I don't really think you should have blasted that front gateway, if you're a guest of the person living here…" I said, gesturing at the destruction behind me that was what was left of the long path up to the house.

Misty shrugged. "It got annoying, and we're both late as it is. I'm sure Brinca wasn't really planning anything for it, anyway."

"Still…"

"Come on, if Brinca says anything, I'll just say you were an innocent bystander trying not to get involved," Misty said, turning back around and throwing open the door. "Hey, Brinca! Look who I met up with!"

I followed her through the door, slightly embarrassed at her introduction, to see an old woman with grey buns on each side of her head sitting at a table surrounded by seven other people. I didn't know who most of them were, but I _did_ recognize the black haired boy with a cap sitting on the couch next to the woman.

"Gold!?" I exclaimed, more shocked that he had arrived before me than his actual appearance.

Gold looked as surprised to see me as I did him. "Well well, Miss Serious being late? Now that's unexpected."

I glared at him. "There was a technical difficulty."

Gold shrugged. "Hey, I didn't say anything about your reasoning. And I'd kinda like it if you girls would stop glaring at me today."

"I wasn't glaring at you!"

"Oh, so what _were_ you doing?"

"If you're quite finished," the grey haired woman interrupted, giving us both a look that could silence a rampaging Snorlax, "we have more important things to worry about. But before that…" She turned to Misty. "Can I ask why I heard a lot of explosions coming from outside?"

Misty side glanced to her right at a girl dressed in a kimono, then looked back at the woman. "Well…Me and Crys here both knew we were already late, and you know how annoying it is to go up that path every time, so-"

"_You blew up my front lawn_?" the woman demanded, her eye twitching.

"Er…Like I said, we were late! And it's not like we can't fix it later!" Misty said hastily.

"But that's still not any excuse to blast Brinca's gate." The kimono girl said, placing a hand on Misty's shoulder. "Remember, we're guests here. And you already knew about these two earlier today, so being late isn't excuse either," she added, seeing Misty open her mouth again. Then the girl turned to me. "I'm Erica, by the way. Nice to meet you."

Brinca let out a huff. "Yes yes, we're all finally together and introductions need to be made, but can't we go through the plans first?" Not waiting for an answer, she got up and gestured to the couch. "Sit. It'll be easier for me to talk standing up anyway."

Deciding it was better not to refuse, I carefully sat down on the couch, as far away from Gold as I could, and firmly crossed my legs. It'd be better, for his sake, if he didn't get any ideas. Misty also moved to stand between Erica and the girl with pink pigtails, who was giving Gold just as nasty a look as I had been giving him.

"Are we all settled? Good. Now, I've already made it clear why you're here, but I'll give a brief summary about what I've already been telling these other youngsters here," Brinca said. "Obviously, the reason Oak and I gathered you all here is because of the situation your seniors have gotten themselves in."

I tried to keep my face as still as I could. There would be no point in this if I couldn't learn self control.

"What most of you don't know is that, thanks to the efforts of the research team on Five Island, we now have the leads to a possible cure. However," she said, turning and rapping the table with her knuckles, "I can't give the details to you just yet."

"Why not?" Gold asked. "You can't expect us to just blindly follow you, not without at least some info."

"The main reason is because I myself don't really understand what it is the team has discovered," Brinca said, "which is why I intend to make a trip to Five Island tomorrow. You and the Gym Leaders are welcome to come as well, of course."

I stared at her. Gym Leaders? Did she mean that all these other people were also Gym Leaders? But now that she mentioned it…

I gave a quick glance around the room. What I hadn't realized before in the confusion I could now see-the well known faces of the Kanto and Johto Gym Leaders. In fact, I remembered most of them from the cross regional tournament three years ago.

"So now what?" the spiky haired man (I vaguely remembered his name as Brock) said, "what do you want us to do? You said you wanted us to help, but you never gave any specific details for that, either."

"Ah, now that's something I can clear up," Brinca said, pointing to a paper on the table. "Do you see that?"

We all leaned in. It was a map of Sevii, complete with harbors and Pokemon Centers.

"What about it?" I asked.

"This is going to be the main set up of your training," Brinca said.

"Why do we need to train?" Gold asked.

"That also falls under the category of what I can't answer. For now, all I've been told is that, for the necessity of our current lead, I need to train you," Brinca said, and pointed to an island labeled with the number "Two". "This is, obviously, where we currently are. Home to me, and where my house is located. Your training," - she moved her finger around the edge of the map - "will take place over all the islands, in a course I have setup. Normally, I would train you like I did your seniors, but for two reasons. One, while the research team has clarified we are on a strict schedule, we do have more time than Red, Green, and Blue did to train. As for the second reason...Well, the area where I would normally undergo training has apparently been slightly...renovated." She gave Misty a dirty look. "Each Gym Leader will train with you on a different island, under different conditions."

"Do you have that set up too?" the pink haired girl asked, "or can we make up our own training?"

"I'll leave the individual training to you," Brinca said, "But I already have the weekly course set up. Namely, it'll go like this.

On Monday, Whitney will train with you-" Here she pointed to One Island. "Tuesday Erica will take over-" she moved her finger to Three Island, "Wednesday, Brock will work with you; Thursday, Misty can do what she will; Friday will be with Falkner; Jasmine gets to train you on Saturday, and on Sunday you report back to me to show me what you've learned." Brinca said, moving her finger to Four, Five, Six, Seven, and then back to Two Island. "Of course, if the Leaders wish to change where they train, that can always be arranged."

"So since tomorrow's Monday, does that mean I get to train with them?" Whitney asked.

"Yes. But I don't want to see any broken bones!" Brinca added hastily, seeing the gleeful look on Whitney's face. I could see Gold grimace from the corner of my eye, and felt a little nervous. Was Whitney really that dangerous?

Whitney seemed to sense my anxiety, because she turned to me and said, "Don't worry, I won't kill you. It's not like I'm a sadist or anything."

"Yeah, right," Gold muttered.

"Well, if I'm a little harsh on you, Gold, you can't blame me. You have to admit you deserve it." She grinned. "I'm already looking forward to this, it'll be so much fun! I'll be upstairs planning for tomorrow if you need me." Then she turned and skipped through the door on the other side of the room.

Gold and I looked warily at each other.

Oh, this would be fun, alright.

**Silver's POV**

"Alright, Machops, set them down carefully."

There was a pause followed by a thud as each individual Machop set their corner of us down, placing us back onto the ground. If I could have winced, I would have. I didn't want to see my sister treated this way.

After the Machops had moved us onto a truck from our petrified location, it had become apparent that we wouldn't be going back. The truck taken us to the edge of the island, after which the Machops gathered around us and moved us onto a small carrier ship. When the ship had stopped, the Professor and the Machops had both appeared and carried us into a building and down a flight of stairs, into what appeared a dark basement. I could barely see anything from the light in the doorway.

"Alright, thank you. Let's go. They should be safe down here," the Professor said, gesturing the Machops toward the door, then following them outside. Before he closed the door, I saw him placing his hand on a small metal platform, followed by a low keening noise as the door closed.

No wonder the Professor was confident in our safety – finger print activated locks were hard to get through. I should know.

I would have sighed. Now that the door was closed, there was no light in the room, making it impossible for me to see. It looked like another dull period of waiting…

"Hey! Stop it!"

I altered my vision as best I could, scanning the limited view that I had. Despite the impending darkness, I could faintly see the outline of a small figure – no, _two_ small figures. Both were scrambling around on the floor.

"Dang it…Look, I'm sorry for falling on you, but it's not my fault it's too dark in here for me to see!" said a voice from the larger of the two. It sounded female.

There was a squeak from near the smaller figure. A Pikachu?

"Yeah, whatever. Okay, it should be in here somewhere…" I heard more scuffling sounds as the figure moved around, apparently searching for something on the floor. "Aha! Got it!" I could see the figure hold up something rectangular. "Now to get out of here…"

Just as the mysterious figure got up and made for the door, the smaller figure moved quickly toward me and my seniors, before stopping at my feet and out of my line of vision. I heard it squeak again.

The figure paused, as though looking over one shoulder. "Oh." It approached me as well, as though following it's companion. However, it was still too dark for me to see the figure's face, despite how close we now were.

The figure reached forward, and I felt something on the top of my head. "I see…You do look like him. Of course you would. Mr.…Silver, things are going to happen. Now that I'm here…And not just me. Other, more dangerous people are going to start moving, now that this situation has finally started. Your friends will be in danger."

That caught my attention. My friends…was this person talking about me and my seniors? Or…

"Gold and Crystal…They'll need to be careful." Well, that answered that question. "I'm sorry. None of this should be happening…"

Another squeak from below me. A pat on my shoes. "Yeah, I know he's petrified. But still…Didn't they say he was conscious? Even a little?" Instinctively, I tried to blink. Who was this person? Why did they know so much?

I felt the pressure on my head leave. "But I promise. I won't let anyone get hurt. Not you…Or them." The figure turned again. "Come on. Let's go. We'll have to move fast if we want to keep up with future events." At this, the smaller figure streaked into and out of my line of vision again, seeming to collide with the other figure. I could only assume the Pokemon (if that was what it was) was clinging onto it somewhere.

The figure approached the door once more. While it was still closed, the figure didn't appear to stop, instead holding out the rectangular object once more. There was a faint beeping sound, and then the door slid smoothly open. I couldn't believe it. I was positive that the object had been a card key, but the Professor had already proven that the door was a completely different type from one that would require a card.

When the door was fully open, the light from outside slid across my face, temporarily blinding my field of vision. When it cleared and the door shut again, neither of the figures was there any longer. However, I knew I hadn't imagined those last words from the girl – the words that were the hardest for me to believe.

"Please, trust me."

**A/N: Well, that's it for chapter two! (Over ten pages! It's a record! O.o) Yes, I brought the Gym Leaders back. I just think that they deserve more appearances, seeing as they hardly ever show up once their region's arc is finished. Not that they won't have their use in this story. ;D So, if any of you thought it was Falkner in the previous chappie, feel free to take a cookie from the plate I'm leaving out. ^^ And I apologize if anyone was OOC in this chapter, but I'm not entirely sure what each individual Leader's personality is (please don't kill me, Falkner, Whitney, Jasmine, Erica, Brock, and Misty fans.). And yes, there will be OC's in here, unfortunately. -.- I promise, though, they'll be few and far between, and the ones present will be VERY important. Take that figure at the end. *Evil grin* I'm actually going to bet no one will know what my reason for including that figure will be. I'm serious.**

**Also, for those of you who asked me to include some Oldrival/Specialshipping, then I think you might like the next chapter. Not saying why~XD**

**I'm always looking for constructive critism, so if you have any, send it to me, please! Well, next chapter, coming up! (Hopefully by the end of the month. -.-)**


	3. Darkness

**A/N: I'm really sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. Hopefully my story updates will be faster from here on out. I was partially…distracted, shall we say, with a few things – mainly school, but my new HeartGold game can also take credit. May I just say this one thing? LIKE AMG. IT IS AMAZING. XDD So I'm going to celebrate by posting this new chapter! Not like it has much to do with the Johto Dex Holders this time around…I should probably shut up before I give the entire chapter away, shouldn't I?**

**And special thanks to Snoaz for helping me in the confusing maze of dialogue. Hopefully I did better in this chapter than the last one.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokespecial. I think it should be obvious by now, because I've said it three times. I hate repeating myself.**

**Red's POV:**

I didn't like to lose. Maybe it had to do with my personality, or maybe it had to do with my being the Champion of the Pokemon League. Blue often mentioned how if I didn't focus on battling so much, I wouldn't be so dense. Whatever that meant.

Either way, I didn't like having to concede defeat. To anyone.

So it was pretty annoying when I had to admit I had no idea what the hell had just happened.

One second, we had all been relaxing – the battle was over, Team Rocket was defeated. I remembered holding Yellow comfortingly in my arms. And then the world exploded, and everything went dark.

I wasn't sure where I was, or where everyone else had gone. The girl I had held was gone from me, and the shock from that emptiness was all that I understood for several minutes. Once I had recovered, I took in my surroundings – there were none, and if there were, none that I could see. Thinking that I could just use Vee's psychic light to show my surroundings, I had reached for his Pokeball…Only to find that all of my team members were gone.

It seemed like shock wanted to be my best friend today.

Deciding that I'd just have to make do with my extremely limited night vision, I took an experimental step forward. When I didn't hit anything, I stepped forward again, this time stretching out my hand in case there was anything at face level. Still nothing. I continued groping through the dark in this manner for several minutes, until my hand eventually smacked into something soft. And fleshy. Instinctively, I gripped harder, six years of battle training and tactics filling my brain in a heartbeat.

"Ow!" squeaked a voice from beneath my hand, "what is-?"

I felt myself let out an enormous sigh of relief, all the tension that had filled me seconds before draining away. "Sorry about that, Yellow."

"Red!" I heard her exclaim, "oh, thank goodness! When it got dark, I was so worried…Everyone was gone…"

"So you don't know where the others are, either?" I asked, hastily removing my hand.

"No…and it's not just Green-san and Blue-san and Silver-san…" There was a scuffle, and then I felt something round and hard placed in my hand. "My friends are gone, too."

I squinted, managing to make out the faint outline of what must be a Pokeball – and an empty one, at that. "Who's ball is this?"

"Kitty's."

Well, that was definitely wrong. Kitty loved Yellow way too much to ever leave her of his own will. In fact, all of her Pokemon did. "Did you use him in battle?"

"No. I remember using him to chase after Team Rocket's airship, but I returned him afterwards."

I scratched the back of my neck, considering. "Huh. That's definitely weird. And I don't remember anything about what happened when we…well…" I gestured at our surroundings, then remembered that Yellow couldn't see me. "I mean, sort of remember this light engulfed us, but after that, nothing. Do you?"

"Not really…I think I was…asleep when the darkness came in. I remember feeling warm, and seeing…" She trailed off.

"Yellow? Is something wrong?"

"N-no! Nothing, nothing at all," I heard her say hastily, "but, um, like I was saying, I don't remember anything, either."

I sighed. "Well, we'll just have to ask questions later. For now we should try to find everyone else, starting with our Pokemon. Mine are missing, too."

Yellow was quiet for moment, then said, "I hope they're all okay…Not just Pika and Kitty and everyone, but Blue, Green, and Silver …"

Even without being able to see her face, I could hear the worry in her voice. For some reason, I felt my chest clench at the fact. "I'm sure they're okay. Green could definitely kick me all the way to Mew only knows where, and Blue and Silver are strong, too." I reached forward, thankfully finding her hand and not her face this time. "Come on, let's go."

"R-Red? Why are you-"

"Well, we don't want to get separated, right? I don't know about you, but I can't see anything here. I don't want to lose you."

Yellow didn't say anything, but she did tighten her grip on my hand. Her hand was small, but warm.

It was a comforting warmth. Even with the darkness all around us, I didn't feel scared at all. Weird.

I tugged gently on her hand, and we stepped forward.

**Green's POV**

I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated. Beside me, Charizard let out a low rumble, snorting sparks of embers through his nostrils. The sparks lit up like little globes of light, although none were as bright as his tail flame.

We'd been walking through the darkness for hours, it seemed, and we'd had no sign of progress. There was nothing, no sounds, colors, no signs of any other living things other than me and Charizard. I'd thought of several explanations for our current situation as we'd walked, but each seemed even less likely then the last. What really worried me was what had happened to the others.

Charizard snorted again, swishing his tail agitatedly. I glanced at him. "Tired?"

The red dragon shook his head, instead swishing his tail once more and moving his neck left and right. I frowned. I knew Charizard was trying to tell me something, and he wouldn't unless he didn't think it was something important. "What's wrong?"

In answer, Charizard thumped his tail on the ground and stretched his neck forward, this time pointing it to my right while at the same time pointing with his tail flame in the same direction. My eyes widened in surprise. The flickering light that radiated from it revealed a small, but clearly visible, figure lying on the ground. It looked human.

I strode quickly over to the person, Charizard following behind me, but even as I reached them and bent down, I felt anxious. I'd recognized the long brown hair and white hat on her head.

_Blue._

I shook her gently, hoping to get some kind of sound out of her. There was none, but her chest was moving, which meant that she was alive, thank Mew. Her face looked pale in Charizard's flame, and her eyes were closed. I tried to calm myself, which I thought I succeeded at until Charizard looked at me with a sympathetic expression.

Damn. I was losing my touch.

Deciding to ignore my Pokemon that knew me too well, I did a quick general scan to see if there was any sign that she needed immediate medical attention. Carefully, I took her wrist in my hand. Her pulse was normal, at least, and her breathing was normal. The only thing that seemed wrong with her was her colouring.

I blew out a low huff of air before reaching to wipe away a loose strand of hair out of her face. Blue shuddered underneath my touch, then seemed to squirm next to me in order to get more comfortable. This time even I knew what kind of look I had on my face.

Even when she was asleep, Blue was an annoying woman.

**Gold's POV**

I shot up in bed, breathing hard and feeling my heart pounding in my chest. From his perch on the windowsill, Aitaro lifted his head up from his arms, blinking his eyes drowsily. After taking a few deep breaths and making my heart slow back down to its normal rate, I nodded to him to go back to sleep. Deciding that nothing was seriously wrong, he tucked his head and settled back down on the sill.

I looked around. Everything was the way it should be – I was in bed in one of Brinca's seemingly unending second floor, and from the bunk above me I could hear Falkner's quiet breathing as he slept. All my Pokemon were comfortable in their Pokeballs, some asleep, some not.

I glanced at my bedside clock. 2:00 AM.

Taking care not to hit my head on Falkner's bunk, I got up out of bed and walked into the bathroom. After our brief meeting downstairs, Brinca had given us a tour of the house and explained that we weren't to run the water upstairs after dark. Something about her electric bill already being too high.

I turned the knob on the sink and spattered water on my face anyway.

Okay. So apparently the dreams were back. Only this time they were more real, and waaay outta line. I'd never seen a dream from the eyes of another person before. Not only that, I'd been thinking the way either Red or Green must normally have done.

I resisted the urge to pound the sink with my fist. Old lady Brinca _really_ wouldn't like that.

My seniors were gone, _petrified,_ damn it, and I knew that. It was why Crystal and I, and everyone else, weas here now. So why couldn't my Lugia forsaken brain not understand that I couldn't allow myself to get distracted by something like this?

It hadn't always been this way. But ever since I'd left with Red to go training on Mt. Silver, I'd had weird nightmares practically every day. He hadn't noticed, thank Mew he was so dense, but there had been a few nasty incidents when I woke up screaming. After he'd gone to Sevii and I started traveling on my own for a bit, the dreams had gone away, and I'd thought they'd stay away.

Figure's I'd be wrong.

I sighed and turned the knob back, bringing silence back to the room. Running a hand through my now wet bangs, I walked back to the bunks and lay down, setting my head on my pillow.

Hopefully I could get some dreamless sleep before Pink Haired Gal tried to murder me and Crys tomorrow.

**A/N: …Yeah. Sorry for taking nearly a month to update, then when I actually updated, presenting a chapter that is my shortest one yet. –avoids incoming bullets- I tried! I swear I did! But no matter how much I stretched, pulled, pushed, tickled, and beat, it would not lengthen. I guess this is one of those 'clincher' chapters, where the content is important but the chapter itself **_**has**_** to be short in order to prepare itself for the next one. As for this chapter in itself, I know the placement doesn't make sense right now, but it will later. There**_** is**_** a reason behind Gold's nightmares and the actual material of this one. I can only beg your patience. And the next chapter will most likely be action-filled, which means its probably going to make up for this one in length. So please don't kill me? –looks hopefully around at the threatening pitchforks-**

**A side note: this was my first time writing the Kanto Dex Holders. Maybe it was noticeable? I actually ended up scrapping a third of this chapter to rewrite Red's POV, because it just didn't seem IC. I plan on practicing writing other characters later to gain experience for this, but until then, this is all I've got.**

**Constructive critism and or comments equals major happiness for Clover. Don't hold out if you have any.**


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